November 30, 2009

Study: Stigma Persists Against People With HIV in U.K.

Stigma against people living with HIV in the United Kingdom persists, according to the People Living With HIV Stigma Index and reported by Pink News. The index was the result of a two-year study of 867 HIV-positive respondents.  

According to the article, within the past year, one in five people in the study had been harassed or threatened and 12 percent had been physically harassed because they were HIV positive.  

Also, one in five had been refused medical treatment; nearly two thirds of the respondents were not confident about the confidentiality of their medical records; and 18 percent had their HIV status disclosed without their consent.  

“HIV is treatable nowadays, but prejudice and ignorance seem to be harder to tackle,” said Lisa Power, head of policy at Terrence Higgins Trust.  

However, more than 60 percent of the respondents were optimistic about the possibility of improving attitudes by confronting stigma directly.

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Jim, , 2009-12-01 02:21:35
There is still a lot of stigma around people with HIV here in United States as well. We have made great progress in education but we still have a long way to go. In 2009, non-disclosure of HIV/AIDS became grounds for first degree murder and the virus has been considered a "bioterror weapon" by a Midwestern court.